Teamwork

Suz

Timeline: 413/414Rating: RWarnings: Language, implied sexWhat if: ...they had gone on the Liberty Ride together? And stayed in
a tent every single night they were away?Author's Notes: Yup, Toronto does actually have a camp site - I love
the internet *g*. Big, big thanks to my beta, the lovely Miss N.

**********************

Despite the assurances, promises, and tongue-filled kiss Justin had received
just before stepping on the bus, he wasn't in the least bit surprised to see
Brian walk into the bar in Toronto. Pushing past an extremely drunk and probably
underage twink - Christ, a few years ago that could've been him - he greeted
Brian with a hug and the words, "You lied, you fucker."

Justin almost hadn't made the trip himself. He and Brett had been due to meet
with producers in Hollywood to try and convince them that Rage deserved to be
made into a movie. Barely thirty minutes before he'd been about to leave for
the airport, he'd received a call that the meeting had been pushed back for
at least a week as some guy Justin had never heard of needed emergency gallbladder
surgery.

Thankfully there'd still been plenty of time to re-pack what he'd need for a
bike ride instead of LA, and get to the buses. Brian had been in the loft at
the time, and when Justin explained the change of plans, Brian's whole face
looked pinched. Justin had already had strong suspicions and that confirmed
it - even though he claimed otherwise, even though his doctor had told him not
to, even though he was still recovering from cancer, Brian was going to ride
a bike all the way from Toronto to Pittsburgh.

And Justin knew there was no fucking way he'd be able to talk him out of it.

So he let Brian accompany him to the pick-up point. Let Brian help him get his
bicycle secured. Let Brian talk to the rest of their friends, wishing them luck
(or, more specifically, telling them not to fall on their asses), and when everyone
started boarding the buses and Brian kissed him 'goodbye', Justin arched his
eyebrows in a way that said 'I know I'm going to be seeing you a lot sooner
than in a few days, you asshole'.

At least, he hoped it said that.

The drive up to Toronto was fine - with that many queers there was never a lack
of conversation - and when they reached the camp site everyone stretched their
legs, checked their bikes, and started setting up their tents. They were free
to do whatever they wanted until the bike ride started the next day, and no
one relished the idea of trying to put their tents up any later that night.

Most of them headed straight for the gay bars after that, and Justin had been
in Moosie's with the rest of the gang for a little over an hour when Brian made
his appearance. Everyone else seemed genuinely surprised to see him which only
confirmed Justin's long-held suspicion that, clearly, none of them knew Brian
as well as they thought they did.

Still, even Justin found some things hard to believe. After Brian had not-apologised
apologised by attempting to clean Justin's tonsils with his tongue, Justin lost
his train of thought for a while before tearing his well-used mouth away from
Brian's. "You realise this means sleeping in a pretty small tent, right? Outdoors?
For more than one night?" Apparently all the sites they were going to be staying
at were nice as far as camp sites went - but still. Brian and camping wasn't
an equation Justin seriously ever expected to see.

"No problem," he drawled, smirking. "I'm used to squeezing myself into tight
places."

Justin really should've seen that one coming, but instead of rolling his eyes
or making a comment, he stared at Brian instead. He considered saying something
about Brian's need to do things, finish what he started, that not finishing
wouldn't make him a failure...but he knew Brian wouldn't believe a word of it,
so he didn't bother.

A loud cheer arose from behind him, and Justin turned to discover some not-entirely
unexpected news - Michael and Ben were getting married.

*

Brian was surprisingly quiet on the whole marriage thing. He'd mocked Michael
and Ben in the bar, sure, but it'd seemed distracted; perfunctory. Like an obligation.
Justin didn't think for one second that Brian was suddenly a believer in marriage,
but something was definitely up.

Of course, then something else was up, and Justin could add 'inside a tent'
to the extensive list of places he'd fucked.

"So much for fucking under the stars," he grinned later, breathing heavily and
staring up at their view of the inside of the tent.

"Don't worry about it," Brian told him, awkwardly moving around in the tent
to unzip and push open the door flaps. "Soon enough you'll be fucking stars
in LA." They'd been asked not to smoke inside the tents, and as Justin watched,
Brian stuck his head outside and lit up a cigarette. It was well past midnight
and the tip of Brian's cigarette glowed brightly in the darkness, his profile
catching what light there was.

Shifting around too, Justin lay on his front next to him, sticking his own head
out of the tent and making a grab for Brian's cigarette. Brian let him, which
Justin figured said more about their relationship than anything else. "I don't
know," he said between puffs. "Might not have time. I'll only be there for a
couple of days."

Shrugging, Brian stole his cigarette back and took a drag. "You'll go back."

"You think so?" Justin asked genuinely, considering. Maybe if the movie got
made, he might be asked to go back from time to time to consult or something.
He really didn't know how the movie industry worked. Maybe Michael would go,
too.

Brian didn't say anything and Justin took in his silence, frowning. Plucking
the cigarette out of Brian's hand again, he held it away instead of taking a
puff and leant in to press a kiss against Brian's lips. "I may go," he said
quietly, "but I'll always come back." It was a lesson Brian really should've
learnt by now.

Brian stared back at him, and Justin wondered how he'd ever tricked anyone into
believing he only gave a shit about himself.

A loud moan broke the moment, both of their heads turning quickly to stare at
a nearby tent.

"Ah," Brian said mockingly, "the happy couple."

Grinning, Justin passed the cigarette back. "I can't believe they're getting
married. Well, I mean I can believe it, but I can't believe we're finally in
a place where we're all here to see it and it's actually legal."

Blowing out a breath of smoke, Brian stubbed the cigarette out in the grass
(Justin made a mental note to pick it up in the morning). "Won't mean shit when
we cross the border."

"I know," Justin sighed, his good mood dipping. "But at least here it's legal.
And...it'll mean something to them, you know?" Pausing, Justin wasn't surprised
when Brian didn't say anything. "I know how you feel about marriage and I respect
that, but...you're not going to try and stop it from happening or anything,
are you?"

Turning his head towards him suddenly, Brian held his body stiffly until he
eventually relaxed. "Wouldn't do that to Mikey. Besides, it's their choice."
Reaching out, Brian pulled the door flaps back in. Together they zipped up the
tent and climbed awkwardly into their sleeping bag. Frankly, Justin was glad
- this was hardly the warmest time of year.

When they'd arrived at the camp site for the night Justin had unzipped both
sleeping bags completely (Brian, of course, had brought his own), then zipped
them together to form a double. Brian had rolled his eyes, but hadn't made him
change them back.

Glad though he was to be sleeping with Brian tonight, Justin was still kind
of shocked by the whole thing. Not so much the fact that Brian was determined
to do the Liberty Ride; more the fact that he was camping and hadn't
bitched about it once.

Deciding for once not to question his good fortune, Justin snuggled in next
to him, kissed Brian's neck and closed his eyes.

A moan reverberated around the camp site again.

Justin couldn't help but chuckle. "How many queers in this camp site do you
think are fucking right now?"

The next morning, Brian woke looking like the living dead - he clearly hadn't
slept well, an unusual occurrence lately. Though their sex life was pretty much
back to normal, Brian's overall energy levels still weren't what they used to
be. He slept longer, harder. Spent more nights at home instead of out partying
at Babylon.

Justin knew better than to ever say anything about it and, figuring Brian just
wasn't used to sleeping in any kind of tent - especially one he didn't fit inside
of comfortably - declared that they should get their hands on some coffee, ASAP.

As it was, they'd barely popped their heads out of the tent when an even more
exuberant than usual Debbie appeared, ordering them to get their asses in gear
in order to get to the wedding with the rest of them.

They got dressed, took their tent down in record time (but was probably really
fucking slow compared to someone who was actually used to camping) and had about
five minutes to wash and brush their teeth - when Deb barged into the men's
and dragged them out, apparently worried they'd get distracted and fuck. Justin
had to admit it was a legitimate concern.

They were the last ones ready, the rest of the riders already on the buses and
waiting. Michael and Ben had saved them a seat just in front of them and, being
the happy couple, everyone was willing to indulge them. Because of the special
occasion, the drivers were going to drop the wedding party off at the court
house, take everyone else to the starting area to get set up, and then come
back later for the others.

Justin wasn't sure how they'd been able to arrange everything at the court house
at such short notice, but Brian had been on his cell a lot before they left
Moosie's the night before - and Brian always got what he wanted.

As the wedding party departed, Michael and Ben got a big cheer from both buses,
and then they started making their way inside.

The ceremony was brief but beautiful. Smiling, Justin held Deb's hand, watched
Michael and Ben exchange vows, and when Brian - as the best man - stood forward
as if to object, Justin knew he didn't really mean it.

Someone had brought rice from somewhere, and when the ceremony was over the
rest of them followed the newlyweds out of the room, laughing and throwing rice
everywhere. By the time they walked out of the building Brian's arm was around
his shoulder, and Justin was really fucking glad he'd never made it to LA.

Everyone seemed to be in a ridiculously good mood, smiling and constantly congratulating
the newlyweds as they waited for the bus to come pick them up. Deb hugged both
Michael and Ben about ten times each, and Justin was talking with Ted when Brian
slipped away to make a call.

Ted waited until Brian was clearly occupied before saying anything.

"Is he really up for this?" he asked seriously, carefully.

Pulling his gaze away from Brian, Justin stared back at Ted. In all honesty,
it was something he'd thought many times himself. "You know what he's like,
Ted. He'll get through it." Truthfully, it was pretty shitty that it was Brian's
cancer that had made him and Ted actual friends, but nonetheless Justin was
really fucking glad Brian had someone at work who knew what he'd been through.
Ted was a good guy.

"And if he doesn't," Ted said confidently, "I'm sure you'll be able to convince
him that resting somewhere really turns you on."

When they saw the bus starting to pull into view, Justin headed towards Brian.
Justin had never lost his general inquisitiveness - Brian called it being fucking
nosey - and as he approached he heard the words 'band', 'cake', and the name
of the camp site they were staying at that night, back in America. Smiling and
shaking his head, Justin wrapped his arms around Brian from behind, pressing
the side of his face against his back.

Not moving until he finished his call, Brian eventually pocketed his cell phone
and turned around until he was facing him.

"Hey," he said, slipping his arms over Justin's shoulders.

"Hey," Justin smiled back, tightening his hold again. "Bus is just about here."
Justin held his gaze. "Despite your best efforts, you're a good man, Brian Kinney."

Brian arched his eyebrows. "What asshole told you that?"

"No asshole," he retorted. "It's just something I know." He was actually a little
surprised for once when Brian didn't try to argue with him or look embarrassed.
Pleased, too, Justin slipped a hand up to the back of Brian's neck, guiding
him down for a kiss.

Brian rarely needed such encouragement and met the kiss with an open mouth.
Justin would've been happy to stay there all day, but a sudden loud beep made
them break apart and turn to see Debbie standing on the steps of the bus. Everyone
else was already on board.

"Come on you two!" she yelled, with a certain twinkle in her eye. "Christ, you'd
think someone else had got married today."

Shifting until they were walking side-by-side, Brian wrapped an arm around Justin's
shoulders again. "You hold her down," he pretended to grump, "and I'll exsanguinate
the body."

Justin couldn't help but smirk. Who the hell used words like exsanguinate? "Oh,
Mr Kinney," he cooed, "your vocabulary gets me so hot."

Brian stared at Justin. Justin stared at Brian.

And then laughed as he was chased up the steps to the bus.

*

Justin hadn't really grasped just how many people were taking part in the Liberty
Ride until he saw them all at the starting line. It was pretty fucking impressive.

Deb, of course, was fussing over her family - now she had two sons, as well
as a kind of grandson - and Justin grinned when he saw her attaching the JUST
MARRIED signs to the back of Michael and Ben's bikes.

The sound of a ringing bell made him turn his head, and he saw Brian pulling
up beside him on his bike. "There you are."

"Here I am," Brian agreed. Justin rolled his eyes.

It was Brian's turn to be fussed over by Debbie, then, and he pretended to enjoy
it a lot less than he actually did. When she finally moved away, Brian sighed
and turned to study Justin.

"You look really fucking dorky in that helmet."

Justin smiled, taking no offense. "And I was just about to say the same thing
to you."

Shifting on his bike, Brian looked around airily. "At least you're in good company."

Biting his bottom lip, Justin waited when he heard murmurs that the ride was
due to start any moment now. "I know you don't need it," he told Brian, "but
good luck."

Pausing, Brian eventually nodded, just as the flag-waver walked out in front
of the starting line. Everyone sat up on their bikes. "You too."

And the Liberty Ride began.

*

Before even approaching the starting line, Justin had already decided that when
they started riding he was staying with Brian - no matter what the fucker said.
By the time they reached the U.S. border, he'd had nothing to worry about -
Brian was holding up well so far, keeping up a good speed. He wasn't particularly
looking forward to the possibility that that'd change, but he was also determined
to stick with his plan.

They crossed the border with little problem, with the exception of Michael and
Ben. As soon as they did make it through, Deb had said loud and clear - repeatedly,
to anyone who would listen - that they hadn't been allowed to enter the country
as a married couple because the marriage wasn't recognised in the United States.

Everyone consoled her and the newlyweds, but when Justin was sure that none
of them were listening, he sidled up to Brian.

"I think it sucks. Of course I think it sucks - gay marriage should be
legal in America. But we all know that it's not." He thought about their conversation
the previous night. "Honestly, I'm surprised Ben and Michael even tried."

Staring off at something for a few moments, Brian eventually looked back at
him. "They just got married. Today. Allegedly it's supposed to be one of the
happiest days of your life. Wouldn't you try?"

Blinking, Justin wondered how that particular exchange of views had just happened.
"You big old romantic."

"I don't know about old or romantic," grabbing Justin's hand, he placed it over
his cock. "But I'd be happy to show you big."

Unfortunately, they turned out not to have time for a quick fuck as the ride
was getting underway again. Later, Justin was secretly kind of glad that they
hadn't, because even without using the energy the fuck would've taken Brian
was starting to slow down. It wasn't hugely noticeable, because almost everyone
had slowed down since they'd first started, but Brian was slower than most.
Neither one of them said anything about it, and Justin simply kept Brian's pace
and occasionally talked about nothing significant - Emmett's outfit, the ass
of the guy in front of them, how many blowjobs Brian still owed him from that
pretending to be a hustler night (that one actually got a response from Brian,
who argued that a 69 would actually clear 69 of them and thus clear his standing
debt. Justin told him he was fucking kidding himself).

By the time they reached the camp site, dusk was starting to fall. After setting
up camp for the night, everyone was encouraged to take a shower - partly to
get clean, partly to help their muscles. When they walked into the shower room
it was packed, but Justin saw someone leaving and quickly discarded his towel
and moved to the free shower head. It was pretty much the only time Justin had
ever been in a room full of naked queers and no one was fucking.

Brian shared the shower head with him, the two of them scrubbing each others
backs, massaging muscles, washing their hair. Justin was actually kind of surprised
that he wasn't getting hard; it was simply...nice...touching Brian, and they
made out a little before turning off the water and leaving to dry off.

They'd brought clothes with them, because there was no fucking way they were
going outside practically naked in that weather, and after they dried, dressed,
and Brian fussed with his hair, they went searching for food. Which was just
as well, because Justin was starving.

Dinner was being served in the main hall. Or barn. Or whatever it actually was.
Justin was pretty impressed with the camp site that'd been chosen. It needed
to be able to cope with a large group of people arriving on the same day, with
most of them taking showers at the same time. So far it was doing so admirably.

The food was fine, but Justin really didn't care about taste by that point.
Even Brian ate with more gusto than usual, and eating seemed to revive him -
he didn't seem quite as tired as he had earlier. They were sitting with Michael
and Ben - who were still upset about not coming into the country as a married
couple - when Brian's cell phone went off. Taking it out, he looked at the Caller
ID and stood up.

"Have to take this," he said, opening it, lifting it to his ear, and striding
towards the exit.

Justin squinted.

It wasn't a surprise at all when, about ten minutes later, Brian returned with
a cake in tow. Justin smiled as it was placed on the table by someone he didn't
recognise. It had two grooms on top; one big and muscular, the other one...not
so much.

Shaking his head as if to clear it, Michael tried again. "I mean, where'd it
come from?"

"In the middle of nowhere," Ben added, looking just as shocked.

"We're back in the US of A. For enough money, you can buy anything." As if to
emphasise his point, he handed a bunch of cash to the guys who'd been carrying
the cake, dismissing them. "And here's a little something to wash it down."
Reaching into his jacket, he pulled out a bottle of champagne he'd clearly been
hiding under his arm.

Debbie gawked at it. "That stuff costs a fortune! You're the last person I ever
expected to be celebrating a marriage."

Grasping the bottle between his legs, Brian ignored the statement and instead
popped the cork out, lifting the bottle up as champagne spilled over the top.
"To the Novotny-Bruckners! Long may it reign!"

Laughing, Justin stood up and reached Brian just a band fucking appeared from
nowhere and started playing. And it wasn't just any band; it was a fucking Klezmer
band. By now the bottle had been put on the table, and Justin flung his arms
around Brian's neck. "See?" he grinned. "I said you were a big old romantic."

He rolled his eyes. "And I told you-"

"You're pissed because they're upset they couldn't come into America as a married
couple, so you did this to make them feel better."

Brian stared at him.

Justin smiled. "Come on," he said, grabbing Brian's hand and tugging him towards
the middle of the room, where people were holding hands and dancing in circles
to the music. Cutting into one of the circles, Justin grinned when Brian didn't
hesitate to join in. He actually seemed to be enjoying himself. They all danced
together for a long time, and eventually the bigger groups started breaking
off into couples. Michael and Ben were the main attraction of course, dancing
in the middle of the room as the others milled around them.

The music was still fast-paced but not at all what they were used to dancing
to at Babylon, and Justin laughed as Brian spun him around. He couldn't remember
the last time they'd danced like-

Stopping suddenly, jerking away from Brian, Justin's stomach rolled. Turning
away he ran, pushing through the crowd, and he thought he heard Brian yelling
at them to get out of the fucking way but then he was outside and bracing one
hand against the building as he threw up everything he'd eaten for dinner.

Brian was there, right beside him, but knew better than to touch him - Justin
fucking hated being touched when he was throwing up, something Brian'd learnt
the hard way.

And fuck, this was gross. Throwing up was fucking disgusting, and by the time
he finally finished heaving his throat hurt and his mouth tasted unbelievably
gross.

"Fuck," he whispered, still bent over. "Fuck, fuck."

"Hey," Brian said quietly, helping him stand, pulling Justin into his arms.

Not resisting - he'd tried that, and these fucking things were always better
with Brian than without - Justin leant against him and exhaled heavily.

Rubbing a hand across Justin's back, Brian kept his voice low. "Been a while
since one of those."

Sniffing, Justin nodded. It wasn't often Brian gave up his pride by actually
admitting he was tired, but they both knew there was no way Justin could deal
with a crowd right now.

They almost made it away when Debbie suddenly rushed out - no doubt she'd heard
something had happened.

"Sunshine?" she began, clearly concerned. "Is everything-?"

"It's fine, Deb," Brian interrupted, shifting around until both he and Justin
had an arm around each other. "I'm just worn out. Think I overdid it today,
so Justin's gonna help me bed down for the night."

Sometimes, even Debbie got subtlety. Though it was still blindingly obvious
to Justin exactly what they were doing, he did appreciate the sentiment.

"Oh. Well," she continued, "you take care of yourself, okay, you little asshole?"
Leaning forward, she gave Brian a one-armed hug. "You're still recovering, you
know."

Brian pretended to put up with it the way he always did. "Yes, Ma."

Moving on to Justin, she held him tightly. "Take care of him, okay, Sunshine?"

"Sure, Deb," he said smoothly, feeling distinctly relieved when she let go.
He wasn't a big fan of anyone other than Brian touching him after an episode.

She gave them a few more words of encouragement, promised to give Michael and
Ben their best, and Justin suspected she stood there watching them the whole
time they were walking away.

The further they walked, arms around each other, the quieter the music became,
until all Justin could hear was the fast, basic beat.

*

They both knew he'd have nightmares that night, and he did. It'd been a while
since those, too, and though Justin had mostly got over his useless frustration
at not being able to stop them, he did get pissed off because Brian really needed
to rest and he was the one keeping him awake.

"Maybe I can find a spare tent," he offered. "Or sleep-"

"Will you calm the fuck down?" Brian asked, extremely rhetorically, sitting
up and cursing when his head went into the side of the tent. "Fuck! Look, correct
me if I'm wrong, but this is the kind of shit partners are supposed to do for
each other."

Freezing for a few seconds, Justin pressed his lips together as something bubbled
inside him. "You're right," he agreed. "You're absolutely right." If he had
to take the bad shit with the good stuff, so did Brian.

"Good," he nodded, sliding back down. "So let's go back to sleep, and if you
have another one we'll deal with it, just like the others."

Justin knew Brian was a fucking lot of work, but sometimes he just couldn't
help but think how lucky he was.

Burrowing against Brian's left side, he closed his eyes and let out a sigh.
"Christ, we make quite the pair, don't we?"

That day of biking was much less exciting, which was probably a good thing.
There was no wedding, no exciting start to the Liberty Ride, no reception -
but there was no PTSD episode and no vomiting, either. They maintained an easy
speed for most of the day, deliberately starting off slower than they'd started
off the day before. Eventually Brian started looking pretty haggard, but didn't
voice one word of complaint and didn't slow down, either. Justin was just contemplating
ways to get him to stop and rest when word passed from the few bikers in front
of them that their next camp site was only half an hour away. It gave them both
a renewed sense of energy.

Justin was glad to get there. Brian needed to rest, and frankly, biking for
so many hours a day was getting fucking boring.

When their bikes were taken care of, they followed the same routine from the
previous night - set up camp, shower, dry, dress. When they returned their toiletries
to their tent, Justin leered at Brian.

"Why don't you lie down? I need to speak to Deb about something, but I won't
be long - and when I come back I'll blow you."

Brian didn't seem inclined to argue, and when Justin returned fifteen minutes
later, Brian was predictably out cold. Smiling faintly, Justin tugged off his
sneakers and cuddled up next to him. He was pretty fucking tired himself. Yawning,
he closed his eyes and promptly fell asleep.

It was Deb who made sure they ate, waking them up a few hours later with her
head sticking into their tent. "Hey, come on you two. Get something to eat before
the food disappears completely. You know what hungry fags are like."

Justin was suddenly starving. Still rubbing at his eyes, he jammed his feet
into his sneakers and went in search of sustenance.

In the new hall/barn/whatever the fuck it was, Michael waved them over when
he saw them standing there, each holding a tray of food. "Hey, guys! Over here!"

"We wondered where you guys had gotten to," Ben said genially as they seated
themselves at the table.

"We were alone," Justin grinned, picking up his fork. "What do you think we
were doing?"

Smiling smugly, he dug into his meal and listened to the others talk. It seemed
Ted and Emmett had gone off-course, looking for a specific town that had a twelve-step
meeting. They hadn't arrived back at the camp yet, and the gang were starting
to get worried.

"Schmucks," Brian announced. "Who the fuck goes exploring an area they don't
know, at night, when it's this cold out? He could've fucking had the meeting
here. He can't be the only recovering user out of this bunch."

"But part of the point of the meeting is the anonymity," Ben argued. "Here,
everybody knows him."

Later, when everyone had settled into their tents, Justin confronted him. "They'll
be okay, you know. If Emmett survived his home town and Ted survived crystal,
they'll survive this too."

Brian sighed. "I thought you promised to blow me."

That he had, and he was missing being with Brian in that way - they hadn't had
any kind of sex in a couple of days. Justin knew Brian was planning on reciprocating,
so he made the blowjob long, exhausting, and fucking magnificent - even if he
did say so himself. By the time he finally let him come, Brian barely had enough
energy to kiss him afterward.

Justin went to sleep sporting a hard dick that night, but it was worth it.

*

The last day of the ride was the worst. Though everyone was relieved because
Emmett and Ted had found their way back, Brian was much slower right from the
start. Justin stuck with him the whole time; half expecting Brian to yell at
him not to wait for him, that he shouldn't be held back - but it never happened.
When Brian started to look in serious danger of falling off his bike from sheer
exhaustion, Justin didn't even try to devise sneaky ways to get him to rest;
he just grabbed the handle on Brian's bike and guided him to the side of the
road.

"Here," he said firmly. "We're resting."

He knew there was no way Brian was about to give up, but he did get off his
bike and sit down for a while. He drank a little water; ate an energy bar. They
sat at the side of the road for about half an hour, watching the rest of the
lagging bikers slowly pedal by until finally they couldn't see anyone at all.

Justin was contemplating getting back on his bike when Brian suddenly said something.

"I want you to move back in."

Eyes wide, Justin stared at him. "Huh?" He couldn't have been more fucking surprised.

"I said I want you to move back in."

Pausing, Justin swallowed and licked his lips. "Why?"

Pausing himself, Brian tipped his head back and stared up at the sky. "Between
bouts of vomiting and feeling like you want to crawl into a hole and die, cancer
is quite the motivator." He smirked ironically. "I want to change the light
over the bed. I want to spend more time with my son." Tilting his head back
down, he turned to look at Justin. "And I want you to move back in."

Justin nodded, but Brian still hadn't answered his question. "Why?"

Sighing, Brian glanced off to one side before focusing back on him. Meeting
his gaze.

Holding it.

"You know why."

Staring back at him, Justin slowly began to smile. Brian might not be able to
say it, but he was acknowledging it.

But there was something else that needed saying. "I'm not expecting monogamy,"
Justin said honestly. "In fact, I don't think I even want it." He didn't trick
as much as Brian, but sometimes he still enjoyed it. Enjoyed just having the
possibility. "But Brian, if we live together, we live together. I'm not
your border, or some piece of fluff you're supporting. I want to help out with
the bills - when I can," he admitted. There was a significant difference between
their incomes for the time being, and he couldn't deny that. "If you want to
buy a new piece of furniture or re-decorate, we discuss it together. We have
equal say. And..." he paused, not sure how Brian was going to react. "No tricking
in the loft. For either of us. It has nothing to do with us being together,
and doesn't belong there."

Laughing, Brian kissed him back, pulling him closer as their hands slid together
and they pretended to wrestle for dominance.

"Geez," a familiar voice said. "If you two stopped to fuck, we'll be waiting
all day."

They pulled apart, but didn't look away.

"Hey, Mikey," Brian greeted, still smiling at Justin. "Is there a problem?"

"Just wanted to make sure you were okay," he replied warmly.

"We're good," Justin grinned.

"Although we should get moving," Brian pointed out. "If we do stop to fuck,
I probably won't have the energy to cross the finish line."

Still smiling, Justin climbed off of his lap and they carefully climbed back
on their respective bikes. Justin knew it wasn't going to be easy - sometimes
it would be tiring, exhausting work - but he'd come this far and wasn't about
to stop now. The metaphor amused him, and his smile grew wider as they pushed
off and continued riding side-by-side, Michael just behind them. There was absolutely
no doubt in Justin's mind that they'd cross the finishing line the same way
they'd started: